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After the subgenre has been dominated by EA, Rockstar San Diego takes back the crown. Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition may not all of the flash found in EA’s series, but the game nonetheless impresses where it matters the most: in pure, arcade-driving fun.
Midnight Club 3 features three fully open-ended cities. You’ll begin in San Diego, but eventually your travels will take you to Detroit and Atlanta. All of the cities are incredibly big, offering many shortcuts, hidden jumps, and race track varieties. The game includes a cruise mode so you can explore the cities before the races; this is important if you want to get the best times. Most of the races will be checkpoint-based. Basically, there will be a number of checkpoints scattered around the city. You’ll need to go through each one, while deciding the best possible route. The benefits of the cruise mode become noticeable almost immediately. The game also has some timed races, and point-to-point races.
The main mode is the career mode. You begin as a chump in the underground racing scene. You’ll have a bit of money, a basic car, and an introduction to the scene. The game doesn’t try to build too much of a story, however. The career mode has all three kinds of races, and you’ll face consequently tougher and more prestigious opponents as you continue. There are also a number of tournaments available to win new cars; this is a must since some races require a certain type of car before you can enter. Of course, money is earned along the way. All in all, you can expect a solid 20 hours of gameplay from the career mode.
Aside from career mode, there are a number of offline (and online) modes available. If going through the underground circuit isn’t enticing, you can simply head on to an arcade game for a quick race. There are many novel multiplayer modes available (capture the flag, tag, etc) that are fun for a while. Adding to the replay value is the ability to make your own tracks by adding your own checkpoints to any of the cities. As I mentioned, the game includes a full online mode for both PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Both versions respond well online, with minimal lag found. The game includes leaderboards, friends list, and the Xbox version includes voice chat. Also included are “clubs.” This lets owners designate officers, members, and pledges in their club, as they compete against others. While not a terribly innovative addition, it is nonetheless welcome.
The game includes a multitude of cars (as I’ll mention below), and each of these has strengths and weaknesses. These vehicles range from motorcycles, trucks, SUVs, tuners, muscle cars. It is entirely possible to race a H2 Hummer against a Cadillac Escalade, for example. Over 60 cars can be found. The cars are certainly the game’s pivotal feature. All of these cars are completely customizable. You’ll begin with a basic car, but you can increase its speed, handling, etc through upgrades. Aesthetics play a major part too, as you can spend insane amounts of money upgrading the car’s rims, giving it a custom paint job, and the like. The cosmetic changes don’t improve the car’s specs, but they sure do make it pretty. The game throws a lot of money your way, too, giving many opportunities to “pimp your ride.” Incidentally, this is where Midnight Club 3 gets the DUB name. DUB Magazine is a car enthusiast magazine, and they played a role in helping Rockstar San Diego select the cars and upgrades that you’ll find in the game.
In terms of actual racing, Midnight Club 3 is an arcade game. That means that you aren’t going to get a simulation from these cars, but rather, the game is positioned toward crashes, high speeds, and big jumps. All of the cars also have “special moves.” Basically, the lighter vehicles have a sort of time-delay ability to slow down time; some vehicles have a damage amplifier. Other vehicles (typically the larger ones) have a special move that knocks out the traffic around you. The special moves don’t impact gameplay too greatly, but if you learn how and when to use them, you’ll easily gain an advantage.
The game’s visuals are great. The car models are incredibly detailed. All of the aesthetic changes can be visibly seen, and none of it looks weird during races. The cars have a damage system that is pretty effective, as well. The environments offer adequate amounts of detail (considering just how vast the three cities are), and look stunning during races. A large part of this is the sensation of speed that Rockstar San Diego was able to build. Motion blur is used generously, and looks great. There are also other touches that really push the sense of speed. Ambient effects like rain add to the atmosphere. Sometimes it gets a little too much since the framerate sometimes stutters on Xbox. On the PS2, it is especially noticeable, and certainly much more so than the Xbox version.
The game performs well aurally, as well. The soundtrack is appropriate with the urban theme, and never becomes annoying. You’ll find artists like Marilyn Manson, The Game, Nine Inch Nails, and the Ying Yang twins. You’re given the ability to sort soundtracks by genre, or create your own on Xbox. The sound effects are marvelous; all of the engines and crashes are faithfully reproduced. The voice overs are solid, although nothing spectacular. They are found mostly in cutscenes, although some lines do find their way into races.
Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition is certainly a great arcade racer. The game’s gameplay is solid, the car customization is in-depth, the online modes are effective, and even the use of DUB Magazine seems helpful. Rockstar San Diego is showing that it won’t be outraced in its own genre. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Apr 20, 2005
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